The Heisman Trophy, one of the highest individual awards in American college football, has been awarded annually since its creation in 1935. The trophy is given to the most outstanding college football player in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), and is awarded by the Heisman Trust, successors of the awards from the Downtown Athletic Club at an annual ceremony.
| Awarded for | The outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work. |
|---|---|
| Presented by |
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| History | |
| First award | HB Jay Berwanger (1935) |
| Most recent | QB Fernando Mendoza (2025) |
History
The DAC Trophy was established in 1935 by the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City to recognize the best college football player "east of the Mississippi River". In that inaugural year, the award went to Jay Berwanger from the University of Chicago. Berwanger was later drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League but declined to sign with them. He never played professional football for any team, instead choosing to pursue a career in business. In 1936, the club's athletic director, football pioneer John Heisman, died and the trophy was renamed in his honor. Larry Kelley, the second winner of the award, was the first to win it as the "Heisman Trophy". In addition to the name change, the award also became a nationwide achievement. With the new name, players west of the Mississippi became eligible; the first player from the western United States was selected in 1938, TCU quarterback Davey O'Brien.
On June 10, 2010, following several years of investigation, the NCAA announced that USC running back Reggie Bush, the 2005 Heisman trophy winner, received gifts from agents while still in college. The university received major sanctions, and there were reports that the Heisman Trophy Trust would strip his award. In September of that year, Bush voluntarily forfeited his title as the 2005 winner. The Heisman Trust decided to leave the award vacated with no new winner to be announced for the season. Eventually, on April 24, 2024, the Heisman Trust announced the reinstatement of Bush's trophy due to 2021 rule changes regarding player compensation.
A school has had a Heisman winner in back-to-back years six times (Yale 1936–37, Army 1945–46, Ohio State 1974–75, USC 2004–05, Oklahoma 2017–18 and Alabama 2020–21). Only one player, Ohio State's Archie Griffin, has won the award twice. Oklahoma is the only school to have two players win the award in back-to-back years playing the same position (quarterbacks Baker Mayfield followed by Kyler Murray).
Between 1936 and 2001, the award was given at an annual gala ceremony at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. The Downtown Athletic Club's facilities were damaged during the September 11, 2001 attacks. Due to financial difficulties stemming from the damage, the DAC declared bankruptcy in 2002, turning over its building to creditors. Following the club's bankruptcy and the loss of the original Downtown Athletic Club building, the Yale Club of New York City assumed presenting honors in 2002 and 2003. The ceremony was moved to the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square for the 2002, 2003, and 2004 presentations. Between 2005 and 2019, the event was held at PlayStation Theater in Times Square. The move to the PlayStation Theater allowed the Downtown Athletic Club (and ultimately, the award's successor, The Heisman Trust) to resume full control of the event (the most prominent example of which was the return of the official portraits of past winners), despite the loss of the original presentation hall. Shortly after the 2019 ceremony was held, the PlayStation Theater was permanently closed; as a result, the Heisman Trust began searching for a new location to conduct the trophy presentation. The 2020 ceremony would ultimately be held at the studios of ESPN in Bristol, Connecticut due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with the ceremony being held on January 5, 2021.
In terms of balloting, the fifty states of the U.S. are split into six regions (Far West, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Northeast, South, Southwest), and six regional representatives are selected to appoint voters in their states. Each region has 145 media votes, for a total of 870 votes. In addition, all previous Heisman winners may vote, and one final vote is counted through public balloting. The Heisman ballots contain a 3–2–1 point system, in which each ballot ranks the voter's top three players and awards them three points for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, and one point for a third-place vote. The points are tabulated, and the player with the highest total of points across all ballots wins the Heisman Trophy.
List
| * | First overall pick in the NFL draft | ||||
| † | Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame | ||||
| ‡ | First overall pick and Pro Football Hall of Fame member | ||||
| Year | Image | Name | School | Position | Points | % of points possible | Class | Draft position | Team drafted by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Jay Berwanger* | Chicago | HB | 84 | 43.1% | Senior | 1st | Philadelphia Eagles | |
| 1936 | Larry Kelley | Yale | End | 219 | 36.4% | Senior | 87th | Detroit Lions | |
| 1937 | Clint Frank | Yale (2) | HB | 524 | 32.9% | Senior | 106th | Detroit Lions | |
| 1938 | Davey O'Brien | TCU | QB | 519 | 29.6% | Senior | 4th | Philadelphia Eagles | |
| 1939 | Nile Kinnick | Iowa | HB/QB | 651 | 31.0% | Senior | 14th | Brooklyn Dodgers | |
| 1940 | Tom Harmon* | Michigan | HB | 1,303 | 54.3% | Senior | 1st | Chicago Bears | |
| 1941 | Bruce Smith | Minnesota | HB | 554 | 50.0% | Senior | 119th | Green Bay Packers | |
| 1942 | Frank Sinkwich* | Georgia | HB | 1,059 | 56.2% | Senior | 1st | Detroit Lions | |
| 1943 | Angelo Bertelli* | Notre Dame | QB | 648 | 64.8% | Senior | 1st | Boston Yanks | |
| 1944 | Les Horvath | Ohio State | HB/QB | 412 | 18.3% | Senior | 45th (1943) | Cleveland Rams | |
| 1945 | Doc Blanchard | Army | FB | 860 | 33.8% | Junior | 3rd | Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| 1946 | Glenn Davis | Army (2) | HB | 792 | 79.2% | Senior | 2nd | Detroit Lions | |
| 1947 | Johnny Lujack | Notre Dame (2) | QB | 742 | 74.2% | Senior | 4th (1946) | Chicago Bears | |
| 1948 | Doak Walker† | SMU | HB | 778 | 28.6% | Junior | 3rd | New York Bulldogs | |
| 1949 | Leon Hart* | Notre Dame (3) | End | 995 | 36.5% | Senior | 1st | Detroit Lions | |
| 1950 | Vic Janowicz | Ohio State (2) | HB/P | 633 | 22.0% | Junior | 79th (1952) | Washington Redskins | |
| 1951 | Dick Kazmaier | Princeton | HB | 1,777 | 60.0% | Senior | 176th | Chicago Bears | |
| 1952 | — | Billy Vessels | Oklahoma | HB | 525 | 14.3% | Senior | 2nd | Baltimore Colts |
| 1953 | Johnny Lattner | Notre Dame (4) | HB | 1,850 | 49.1% | Senior | 7th | Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| 1954 | Alan Ameche | Wisconsin | FB | 1,068 | 27.0% | Senior | 3rd | Baltimore Colts | |
| 1955 | Howard Cassady | Ohio State (3) | HB | 2,219 | 55.9% | Senior | 3rd | Detroit Lions | |
| 1956 | Paul Hornung‡ | Notre Dame (5) | QB | 1,066 | 27.0% | Senior | 1st | Green Bay Packers | |
| 1957 | John David Crow | Texas A&M | HB | 1,183 | 31.1% | Senior | 2nd | Chicago Cardinals | |
| 1958 | Pete Dawkins | Army (3) | HB | 1,394 | 39.0% | Senior | Undrafted | ||
| 1959 | Billy Cannon* | LSU | HB | 1,929 | 53.7% | Senior | 1st | Los Angeles Rams | |
| 1960 | Joe Bellino | Navy | HB | 1,793 | 52.9% | Senior | 227th | Washington Redskins | |
| 1961 | Ernie Davis* | Syracuse | HB/LB/FB | 824 | 25.2% | Senior | 1st | Washington Redskins | |
| 1962 | Terry Baker* | Oregon State | QB | 707 | 21.3% | Senior | 1st | Los Angeles Rams | |
| 1963 | Roger Staubach† | Navy (2) | QB | 1,860 | 55.2% | Junior | 129th | Dallas Cowboys | |
| 1964 | — | John Huarte | Notre Dame (6) | QB | 1,026 | 31.0% | Senior | 76th | Philadelphia Eagles |
| 1965 | Mike Garrett | USC | HB | 926 | 26.6% | Senior | 18th | Los Angeles Rams | |
| 1966 | Steve Spurrier | Florida | QB | 1,679 | 48.3% | Senior | 3rd | San Francisco 49ers | |
| 1967 | — | Gary Beban | UCLA | QB | 1,968 | 63.5% | Senior | 30th | Los Angeles Rams |
| 1968 | O. J. Simpson‡ | USC (2) | HB | 2,853 | 80.6% | Senior | 1st | Buffalo Bills | |
| 1969 | Steve Owens | Oklahoma (2) | FB | 1,488 | 40.9% | Senior | 19th | Detroit Lions | |
| 1970 | Jim Plunkett* | Stanford | QB | 2,229 | 58.8% | Senior | 1st | New England Patriots | |
| 1971 | — | Pat Sullivan | Auburn | QB | 1,597 | 42.3% | Senior | 40th | Atlanta Falcons |
| 1972 | — | Johnny Rodgers | Nebraska | WR | 1,310 | 38.8% | Senior | 25th | San Diego Chargers |
| 1973 | John Cappelletti | Penn State | RB | 1,057 | 32.8% | Senior | 11th | Los Angeles Rams | |
| 1974 | Archie Griffin | Ohio State (4, 5) | RB | 1,920 | 59.5% | Junior | 24th | Cincinnati Bengals | |
| 1975 | 1,800 | 57.6% | Senior | ||||||
| 1976 | Tony Dorsett† | Pittsburgh | RB | 2,357 | 75.0% | Senior | 2nd | Dallas Cowboys | |
| 1977 | Earl Campbell‡ | Texas | RB | 1,547 | 49.1% | Senior | 1st | Houston Oilers | |
| 1978 | Billy Sims* | Oklahoma (3) | RB | 827 | 26.3% | Junior | 1st (1980) | Detroit Lions | |
| 1979 | — | Charles White | USC (3) | RB | 1,695 | 53.8% | Senior | 27th | Cleveland Browns |
| 1980 | George Rogers* | South Carolina | RB | 1,128 | 35.8% | Senior | 1st | New Orleans Saints | |
| 1981 | Marcus Allen† | USC (4) | RB | 1,797 | 57.1% | Senior | 10th | Los Angeles Raiders | |
| 1982 | Herschel Walker | Georgia (2) | RB | 1,926 | 61.1% | Junior | 114th (1985) | Dallas Cowboys | |
| 1983 | Mike Rozier | Nebraska (2) | RB | 1,801 | 57.2% | Senior | 1st (USFL) | Pittsburgh Maulers | |
| 1984 | Doug Flutie | Boston College | QB | 2,240 | 71.1% | Senior | 285th | Los Angeles Rams | |
| 1985 | Bo Jackson* | Auburn (2) | RB | 1,509 | 47.9% | Senior | 1st | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
| 1986 | Vinny Testaverde* | Miami (FL) | QB | 2,213 | 70.3% | Senior | 1st | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
| 1987 | Tim Brown† | Notre Dame (7) | WR | 1,442 | 45.8% | Senior | 6th | Los Angeles Raiders | |
| 1988 | Barry Sanders† | Oklahoma State | RB | 1,878 | 68.3% | Junior | 3rd | Detroit Lions | |
| 1989 | Andre Ware | Houston | QB | 1,073 | 39.0% | Junior | 7th | Detroit Lions | |
| 1990 | Ty Detmer | BYU | QB | 1,482 | 53.9% | Junior | 230th (1992) | Green Bay Packers | |
| 1991 | Desmond Howard | Michigan (2) | WR/PR | 2,077 | 75.5% | Junior | 4th | Washington Redskins | |
| 1992 | Gino Torretta | Miami (FL) (2) | QB | 1,400 | 50.8% | Senior | 192nd | Minnesota Vikings | |
| 1993 | Charlie Ward | Florida State | QB | 2,310 | 83.8% | Senior | Undrafted | ||
| 1994 | Rashaan Salaam | Colorado | RB | 1,743 | 63.2% | Junior | 21st | Chicago Bears | |
| 1995 | Eddie George | Ohio State (6) | RB | 1,460 | 52.8% | Senior | 14th | Houston Oilers | |
| 1996 | Danny Wuerffel | Florida (2) | QB | 1,363 | 49.4% | Senior | 136th | New Orleans Saints | |
| 1997 | Charles Woodson† | Michigan (3) | CB | 1,815 | 65.7% | Junior | 4th | Oakland Raiders | |
| 1998 | Ricky Williams | Texas (2) | RB | 2,355 | 85.2% | Senior | 5th | New Orleans Saints | |
| 1999 | Ron Dayne | Wisconsin (2) | RB | 2,042 | 73.8% | Senior | 11th | New York Giants | |
| 2000 | Chris Weinke | Florida State (2) | QB | 1,628 | 58.9% | Senior | 106th | Carolina Panthers | |
| 2001 | — | Eric Crouch | Nebraska (3) | QB | 770 | 27.8% | Senior | 95th | St. Louis Rams |
| 2002 | Carson Palmer* | USC (5) | QB | 1,328 | 48.0% | Senior | 1st | Cincinnati Bengals | |
| 2003 | Jason White | Oklahoma (4) | QB | 1,481 | 53.5% | Senior | Undrafted (2005) | ||
| 2004 | Matt Leinart | USC (6) | QB | 1,325 | 47.9% | Junior | 10th (2006) | Arizona Cardinals | |
| 2005 | Reggie Bush | USC (7) | RB | 2,541 | 91.8% | Junior | 2nd | New Orleans Saints | |
| 2006 | Troy Smith | Ohio State (7) | QB | 2,540 | 91.6% | Senior | 174th | Baltimore Ravens | |
| 2007 | Tim Tebow | Florida (3) | QB | 1,957 | 70.5% | Sophomore | 25th (2010) | Denver Broncos | |
| 2008 | Sam Bradford* | Oklahoma (5) | QB | 1,726 | 62.1% | Sophomore | 1st (2010) | St. Louis Rams | |
| 2009 | Mark Ingram II | Alabama | RB | 1,304 | 47.0% | Sophomore | 28th (2011) | New Orleans Saints | |
| 2010 | Cam Newton* | Auburn (3) | QB | 2,263 | 81.6% | Junior | 1st | Carolina Panthers | |
| 2011 | Robert Griffin III | Baylor | QB | 1,687 | 60.7% | Junior | 2nd | Washington Redskins | |
| 2012 | Johnny Manziel | Texas A&M (2) | QB | 2,029 | 72.9% | Freshman | 22nd (2014) | Cleveland Browns | |
| 2013 | Jameis Winston* | Florida State (3) | QB | 2,205 | 79.1% | Freshman | 1st (2015) | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |
| 2014 | Marcus Mariota | Oregon | QB | 2,534 | 90.9% | Junior | 2nd | Tennessee Titans | |
| 2015 | Derrick Henry | Alabama (2) | RB | 1,832 | 65.7% | Junior | 45th | Tennessee Titans | |
| 2016 | Lamar Jackson | Louisville | QB | 2,144 | 79.5% | Sophomore | 32nd (2018) | Baltimore Ravens | |
| 2017 | Baker Mayfield* | Oklahoma (6) | QB | 2,398 | 86.0% | Senior | 1st | Cleveland Browns | |
| 2018 | Kyler Murray* | Oklahoma (7) | QB | 2,167 | 77.8% | Junior | 1st | Arizona Cardinals | |
| 2019 | Joe Burrow* | LSU (2) | QB | 2,608 | 93.8% | Senior | 1st | Cincinnati Bengals | |
| 2020 | DeVonta Smith | Alabama (3) | WR | 1,856 | 66.8% | Senior | 10th | Philadelphia Eagles | |
| 2021 | Bryce Young* | Alabama (4) | QB | 2,311 | 83.0% | Sophomore | 1st (2023) | Carolina Panthers | |
| 2022 | Caleb Williams* | USC (8) | QB | 2,031 | 72.9% | Sophomore | 1st (2024) | Chicago Bears | |
| 2023 | Jayden Daniels | LSU (3) | QB | 2,029 | 72.9% | Senior | 2nd | Washington Commanders | |
| 2024 | Travis Hunter | Colorado (2) | CB/WR | 2,231 | 80.1% | Junior | 2nd | Jacksonville Jaguars | |
| 2025 | Fernando Mendoza | Indiana | QB | 2,362 | 84.7% | Junior | TBD | TBD |
Notes
- Unless otherwise noted, these positions are for the NFL draft following their Heisman victory.
- Did not play professionally due to a salary dispute
- Rejected offers to play professional football
- Never played professional football
- Instead opted for a military career
- Instead signed with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU)
- Instead signed with the Houston Oilers of the American Football League (AFL), who selected him second overall in the 1960 AFL draft
- Instead signed with the Boston Patriots of the American Football League (AFL), who selected him 146th overall in the 1961 AFL draft
- Did not join the Cowboys until 1969 due to his four-year military commitment
- Instead signed with the New York Jets of the American Football League (AFL), who selected him 12th overall in the 1965 AFL draft
- Instead signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He joined the Chargers in 1977.
- Signed with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League (USFL) in 1983. He joined the Cowboys after the USFL folded in 1986.
- Selected by the Houston Oilers second overall in the 1984 supplemental draft, joining them in 1985
- Instead signed with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League (USFL). After the USFL folded in 1986, the Rams traded his rights to the Chicago Bears
- Refused to play for the Buccaneers and was re-drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders 183rd overall in the 1987 NFL draft
- Instead opted for a basketball career, and was drafted 26th in the 1994 NBA draft by the New York Knicks
By school
This is a list of the colleges and universities who have had a player win a Heisman trophy. USC has the most trophies with eight. Ohio State has the distinction of the only two-time winner, Archie Griffin. In total, players from 41 schools have won a Heisman Trophy, while 20 schools have more than one trophy.
| School | Trophies |
|---|---|
| USC | 8 |
| Notre Dame | 7 |
| Ohio State | |
| Oklahoma | |
| Alabama | 4 |
| Army | 3 |
| Auburn | |
| Florida | |
| Florida State | |
| LSU | |
| Michigan | |
| Nebraska | |
| Colorado | 2 |
| Georgia | |
| Miami (FL) | |
| Navy | |
| Texas | |
| Texas A&M | |
| Wisconsin | |
| Yale | |
| Baylor | 1 |
| BYU | |
| Boston College | |
| Chicago | |
| Houston | |
| Indiana | |
| Iowa | |
| Louisville | |
| Minnesota | |
| Oklahoma State | |
| Oregon | |
| Oregon State | |
| Penn State | |
| Pittsburgh | |
| Princeton | |
| South Carolina | |
| SMU | |
| Stanford | |
| Syracuse | |
| TCU | |
| UCLA |
By position
This is a list of the positions of players who have won a Heisman Trophy.
| Position | Trophies |
|---|---|
| CB | 1 |
| CB/WR | 1 |
| End | 2 |
| FB | 2 |
| HB | 17 |
| HB/LB/FB | 1 |
| HB/P | 1 |
| HB/QB | 2 |
| LB | 1 |
| QB | 37 |
| QB/WR | 1 |
| RB | 21 |
| WR | 2 |
| WR/P | 1 |
| WR/PR | 1 |
Retroactive selections
In 2009, the National Football Foundation (NFF) retroactively selected Heisman Trophy winners for the years between 1889 and 1934. The selections were made by sportswriter and NFF historian Dan Jenkins and published by the NFF.
| Year | Image | Name | School | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1889 | Amos Alonzo Stagg | Yale | E | |
| 1890 | Pudge Heffelfinger | Yale | G | |
| 1891 | Lee McClung | Yale | HB | |
| 1892 | Marshall Newell | Harvard | T | |
| 1893 | Frank Hinkey | Yale | E | |
| 1894 | Frank Butterworth | Yale | FB | |
| 1895 | George H. Brooke | Penn | FB | |
| 1896 | Addison Kelly | Princeton | HB | |
| 1897 | John Outland | Penn | T | |
| 1898 | Clarence Herschberger | Chicago | FB | |
| 1899 | Truxtun Hare | Penn | G/FB | |
| 1900 | Charles Dudley Daly | Harvard | QB | |
| 1901 | Harold Weekes | Columbia | HB | |
| 1902 | Paul Bunker | Army | FB | |
| 1903 | John DeWitt | Princeton | G | |
| 1904 | Willie Heston | Michigan | HB | |
| 1905 | Tom Shevlin | Yale | E | |
| 1906 | Walter Eckersall | Chicago | QB | |
| 1907 | Germany Schulz | Michigan | C | |
| 1908 | Doc Fenton | LSU | QB | |
| 1909 | Ted Coy | Yale | FB | |
| 1910 | John McGovern | Minnesota | QB | |
| 1911 | Jim Thorpe | Carlisle | FB | |
| 1912 | Hobey Baker | Princeton | HB | |
| 1913 | Charles Brickley | Harvard | FB | |
| 1914 | Eddie Mahan | Harvard | FB | |
| 1915 | Bart Macomber | Illinois | HB | |
| 1916 | Elmer Oliphant | Army | FB | |
| 1917 | Chic Harley | Ohio State | HB | |
| 1918 | Pete Henry | Washington & Jefferson | T | |
| 1919 | Chic Harley | Ohio State | HB | |
| 1920 | George Gipp | Notre Dame | FB | |
| 1921 | Bo McMillin | Centre | HB | |
| 1922 | Brick Muller | California | E | |
| 1923 | George Pfann | Cornell | QB | |
| 1924 | Red Grange | Illinois | HB | |
| 1925 | Ernie Nevers | Stanford | FB | |
| 1926 | Benny Friedman | Michigan | QB | |
| 1927 | Morley Drury | USC | QB | |
| 1928 | Chris Cagle | Army | HB | |
| 1929 | Bronko Nagurski | Minnesota | FB | |
| 1930 | Frank Carideo | Notre Dame | QB | |
| 1931 | Gaius Shaver | USC | QB | |
| 1932 | Harry Newman | Michigan | QB | |
| 1933 | Beattie Feathers | Tennessee | HB | |
| 1934 | Don Hutson | Alabama | E |
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